Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Ryan Sponsored Bill That Would Undermine Legality of In Vitro Fertilization, Used by Romney's Children
AlterNet/Mother Jones: Ryan Sponsored Abortion Bill That Would Make Romney's Kids Criminals, by Stephanie Mencimer:
Now that Mitt Romney has chosen Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate, Ryan's long history as a culture warrior is getting a fresh look. Women's groups have already honed in on his extreme anti-abortion record, which consistently has earned him a 100 percent voting approval rating from the National Right to Life Committee.
What isn't so well known about Ryan's record, though, is that one piece of legislation he supported is so extreme that it would have turned Romney's children into criminals.
The Sanctity of Human Life Act , which Ryan co-sponsored, would have enshrined the notion that life begins at fertilization in federal law, thus criminalizing in vitro fertilization—the process of creating an embryo outside of a woman's womb. . . .
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It's not clear that laws like this would immediately criminalize in vitro and other medical procedures that create and disgard fertilized embryos (or prevent them from implanting). But certainly it would be logically (and morally) inconsistent to define zygotes and embryos as full legal persons and then deny that their destruction is "murder." For more, see the essays written for a symposium on Mississippi's similar, failed ballot initiative.
https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/reproductive_rights/2012/08/ryan-sponsored-bill-that-would-undermine-legality-of-in-vitro-fertilization-used-by-romneys-children.html